The Real MacGuffin
updated 4/8/08
The New MacGuffin Concert Series
MacGuffin is excited to announce a new concert series. This concert series will feature the dialogue and songs of an exciting piece of musical theater. The scenes will be lightly staged but fully acted. Costumes will be worn but the set will be bare bones.
The idea for the series is to give our actors a rich acting experience without the weight of a full production. It is also a short term project with a commitment of only 6 weeks. We believe that this diversity will allow more actors to become involved with MacGuffin.
Our first musical to inaugurate the program will be the hit show, Chicago. "Murder, greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery and treachery--all those things we hold near and dear to our hearts." With this killer opening line, creators John Kander, Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse never back off from their bold and sinister promise. Chicago is the kiss-and-tell tale of Roxie Hart, a chorus girl who kills her lover as a career move; Billy Flynn, a sharp lawyer who turns Roxie into a celebrity; and Velma Kelly, a dancing jailbird with an ear for headlines and an eye for talent. Chicago, winner of six 1997 Tony Awards, including Best Musical Revival, is a loving look back at vaudeville, a timely satire of the justice system, and a reminder of what great theater can be. The movie starring Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Richard Gere, won a slew of Academy Awards including Best Picture.
The show has been cast and will feature Annie Westphal as Velma, Samantha Evans as Roxie, Tom Hopkins as Billy Flynn, Anna Flynn-Meketon as Mama Morton, Michaela Shuchman as Mary Sunshine and newcomers Eli Epperson as Amos and Leo Koorhan as Master of Ceremonies. Emily Featherman, Emma Johnson, Isabel Rieser, Jenny Ruymann, Elsa Schieffelin, Sarah Schieffelin and Samaya Sinha round out the cast all playing a variety of rolls.
Performances will be held on Friday, May 2 at 8 PM and on Sunday, May 4 at 5 PM at the Adrienne Theatre’s Playground space on the first floor. The Adrienne Theatre is located at 2030 Sansom Street in Philadelphia. Paid parking is across the street. There is a $5 per person suggested donation. Patrons can get their tickets at the door.
Warning—Parents please note that the content of the show may not be appropriate for young children. The show has a rating of PG-13.
Shane Gillern: Tall and Big on Absurd
Annie Westphal and Shane Gillern in More Than Anything
MacGuffin senior Shane Gillern joined MacGuffin in 2002. He has taken every class MacGuffin has offered and attended at least 5 summer camps. He has appeared in:You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, Monty Python’s The Quest for the Holy Grail, Santaland Diaries, Juvie, Cinderella Story, Hamlet Cubed,Via Dolorosa (Shakespeare Award for Best Actor), Mak and the Shepherds, Chasing the MacGuffin (documentary), More Than Anything (Shakespeare Award for Best Comedic Performance), Godspell and he has been with This Side Up since it began four seasons ago.
Shane is a tall actor as anyone who’s worked with him will attest. It is safe to say that he see things a little differently up there. But that has made him a brilliant comedian and improviser. Shane sees a truth that’s not easily found. His intellectual musings either baffle or open up something unseen. One of the best parts about Shane is his kind heart. It makes all of our actors want to work with him. MacGuffin alum, Anna Elliott, while rehearsing with This Side Up would say “Oh Shane” and pat his back after he made an obscure or absurd reference. That’s the thing about him. You never know what he’s going to say next and that quality makes his scene work challenging and imaginative. Shane is not afraid to try anything. He feels comfortable in a dress, half naked, as a ghost with a sheet over his head, holding a staff as a shepherd, dancing that exotic dance in More Than Anything, carrying This Side Up members on his back or jumping up into Michael Silverstein’s arms. If it’s funny Shane will go there.
Shane has decided to take a gap year and get in adventures as he travels around the world pursuing his curiosities. There is no doubt that comedy will be a big part of his life. He is one of the best improvers MacGuffin has ever had. Here are some of Shane’s thoughts on life, acting and MacGuffin.
John Rea: How long have you been with MacGuffin?
Shane Gillern: Six years now, since the summer of sixth grade.
JR: What were some of your favorite productions at MacGuffin?
SG: More Than Anything was pretty good. I like Hamlet Cubed, Cinderella Story — any play in which I get to wear a dress. Of course comedy improv has always been the golden monkey of my performance history, looked like fun from far off, still fun close in.
JR: You've taken every class I could offer - which class had the greatest impact on you?
SG: I'm going to have to go with stage combat. Physical precision and discipline has never been something that I've been exactly gung-ho on. But for some reason, it worked with stage combat.
JR: Where will you travel first?
SG: Electric Ladyland, I've heard so much about it but never actually been there. Then India, England, the rest of Europe - space. Naturally, this assumes that in the future I have money. Of course, not being able to see the future outside of glossarial spiritual epiphanies and the occasional Nostradamesque vague eschatological statement, I have no idea whether or not this will be the case.
JR: You are currently playing the apostle, Peter in Godspell. How are rehearsals going?
SG: It's just my opinion but I think it's going swimmingly. They may not realize it but this group of kids has more talent, dedication and energy than any I've ever seen. In the deep dark fog of actually doing a performance like this, it's easy to forget sometimes just how remarkable what we do actually is. I mean here we have a group of thirty some odd kids and teenagers, any one of whom
could have at least six different adults telling them where they need to be putting their priorities and bestowing upon them countless responsibilities to fill their days, and they still manage to find the time and energy to come together for at least eight hours a week and put together a performance that at points rivals that of professional productions. I mean this isn't community theater directed by the kindly old Mrs. Ferguson, the gym teacher's wife. This is real living bleeding professional theater brought to you by the prolific John Rea and his team of theater crazy super mutants. So yes I think Godspell rehearsals are going well.
JR: How's it feel to know this is your final show with MacGuffin?
SG: MacGuffin has been great. It's responsible for a sizeable chunk of who I am. But I can feel the tug of what lies ahead. Everyone that I met when I first came to MacGuffin has since graduated and
moved on and now it's my turn. If anything, I'm exited to put what I've learned here to use. If my work at MacGuffin suffered from anything it was that I always had other things I needed to do. With everything else out of the way, I'm now free to pursue what I want to do with little obstruction. I consider MacGuffin to have been crucial aspect of my high school education. And now that I'm reaching that paradigm shift that everyone graduating high school reaches, the theme is this: It's time to take what I've been doing for the past six years and start making people give me money for it.
JR: What advice would you give younger actors, given what you know now?
SG: My first piece of advice is to not care what others think. My second piece of advice is to not care what you think either. The big challenge for the beginning actor is to hang up their hang ups and just let the character take control. From there it gets complicated. Everyone needs to develop there own methods of memorizing lines, choreography, and tricking themselves into character. But everyone will be different, only you know the inner workings of your own mind. What I can say is this: try not to tear yourself up about it. Actors go through more emotional states in an hour than most people do in a week, and emotions are powerful things. Any good play will have its share of powerful moments. Godspell is a perfect example of this. But you can't tear yourself up because of something that happens on the stage. The heights of shame that I've seen on actors faces after a botched run is beyond the power of words to describe. Similarly I've never seen such a tight emotional group bond than that between members of a cast at MacGuffin. It all makes for an incredible ride but any actor who wants to maintain his or her sanity needs to reminds themselves from time to time
that this is just a facade, these thoughts are not our own.
JR: Who is your favorite comedian?
SG: Groucho Marx.
JR: What book has inspired you the most?
SG: How to Be Idle: A Loafers Manifesto, by Tom Hodgkinson. It's a book that lets me know that it's okay that I'm sometimes compelled to stare at the ceiling for hours on end waxing philosophical to
myself in languages I don't understand.
JR: If you could travel anywhere in time, when and where would you go?
SG: I'd like to travel to the end of time. I feel I could live my life a little easier if I knew how it all turns out.
Final Bows for The Three Trees
A scene from The Three Trees
(below) Cast of The Three Trees and director/writer John Rea
The Three Trees was co-produced for the third and final time by MacGuffin and St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church. It was directed once again by it’s writer John Rea. For this final production MacGuffin pulled out all the stops doubling the usual amount of actor/singers. They were Maureen Bowler, Samantha Evans, Emily Featherman, Anna Flynn-Meketon, Tom Hopkins, Ben Horwitz, Isabel Rieser, Elsa Schieffelin, Hannah Schill, Michaela Shuchman, Nina Starner, Karlynn Wells and Annie Westphal. Other MacGuffin actors Julia Hopkins, Anne Mortensen-Agnew, Aidan Ryan, Sarah Schieffelin, and Jake Westphal worked many of the puppets. MacGuffin adults Michael Schieffelin and Stacey-Kyle Rea worked behind the scenes coaching the puppeteers and lifting the big puppets.
The giant puppet musical was written by John Rea and featured over 30 puppets operated by over 15 youth and adults. The story follows three trees as they wish for greatness. Standing in their way is the evil Saul who wants to destroy them. Through their perilous journey the trees find themselves to be vital parts of Christ’s life.
The show went up on October 19-21, 2007 at St. Andrew’s in Audubon, PA. Many of the vocalist had done the show before and were delightfully surprised at how their performances changed over the years. The harmonies never sounded better and the production really hit its mark.
